Woman suing Equifax in Los Angeles County

LOS ANGELES – A woman is suing credit reporting agency Equifax, alleging an inadequate security system led to the data breach in which the personal details of 143 million people were stolen.

Maricela Cuevas’ proposed class-action lawsuit was filed Friday in Los Angeles Superior Court. The allegations include breach of implied contract, negligence, invasion of privacy and various violations of the state’s Unfair Competition Law.

“Plaintiff and class members are former customers who entrusted Equifax with their financial information” from May to July, the suit states. “It is well-known … that payment card data is highly coveted and a frequent target of hackers.”

Despite knowing about previous data breaches, Equifax and its affiliates “opted to maintain an insufficient and inadequate system to protect” the private information of Cuevas and the proposed class members, the suit states.

The suit seeks unspecified compensatory and punitive damages. An Equifax representative could not be immediately reached.

Equifax is based in Georgia, but has an office in Panorama City, the suit states. Cuevas lives in Los Angeles County, her complaint states.

As a result, many of the customers who trusted Equifax have had their privacy rights violated and “have been exposed to the risk of fraud and identity theft,” according to the complaint.

Equifax discovered the leak of information on July 29 and disclosed it six weeks later, the suit states. Days after the breach, three Equifax executives sold their shares of company stock totaling $1.8 million, the suit states.